770_The covenant-keeping God (Jeremiah 33)
Jeremiah 33:14-18 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
17 “For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”
Every dawn, whether we notice it or not, the darkness begins to give way to light. Our circumstances may have changed overnight. We may wake up carrying the burden of a difficult conversation, an uncertain future, a financial problem, or a painful disappointment. Yet the sun rises. Morning comes because God has ordained it.
Jeremiah 33 turns every new day and night into the reminder that the God who keeps the covenant he has made with creation will also keep his covenant with the people he chose to be his own.
The setting of Jeremiah 33 could hardly have been more discouraging. Jerusalem was under siege. Jeremiah was imprisoned as a traitor. The people were experiencing the consequences of their rebellion against God. The land filled with life was becoming desolate. Even the everlasting kingship promised to David seemed to be coming to an end.
Everything seemed to say that God had abandoned his covenant. And so, right in the middle of the darkness, God speaks, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” The circumstances of Israel’s captivity and exile had not cancelled His covenant.
God does not base His promise on current reality. He reminded his people of who he was and what he had revealed about his will for them. Though everything they might have relied on was falling into ruin, God would never change. Their city walls would be breached, their king executed, their rulers exiled. Yet God’s purposes would continue.
It can happen in our lives that God’s promises and our circumstances seem to contradict each other. The more we pray, the worse the situation seems to become. We try to keep trusting God, but the answer does not come. We believe that He is working out his will, yet everything we experience suggests the opposite.
At such moments, we are tempted to interpret our circumstances as God’s unfaithfulness. But faith does the opposite – it interprets our circumstances through the faithfulness of God. What we see is real, but it is not the whole story. Our circumstances are changing; God’s covenant remains.
Being under God’s discipline does not mean that He has abandoned us. Jeremiah 33 describes a devastated land. Yet God promises, “Again there shall be heard in this place… the voice of gladness and the voice of joy.” He is not only the one who allows judgment, but the one who promises restoration.
When God exposes our sin or disciplines us, allowing us to suffer the consequences of our choices, our hearts may tell us that he has rejected us. But Hebrews 12:6 reminds us, “The Lord disciplines the one he loves.” His correction is not a contradiction but a corroboration and an expression of his covenant love and faithfulness towards us.
As Jeremiah 33 unfolds, God’s covenant faithfulness becomes even more glorious. It goes beyond the restoration of Jerusalem to the coming of the long-promised King. God says, “I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” The promise of the Branch echoes the earlier promise in Jeremiah 23, and looked forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The people saw a broken kingdom and a tottering throne. God saw his Son and earth’s King. They saw the seeming failure of David’s line; God looked ahead to the coming of the One whose kingdom would never end. They feared that God’s purposes had failed. God promised that he would fulfil his covenant in all its fulness.
And this is the gospel. God does not show his faithfulness merely by improving our circumstances. Rather, he demonstrated his utter covenant loyalty when he gave us his Son. As 2 Corinthians 1:20 declares, “All the promises of God find their Yes in him.” Jesus Christ, his birth, death, and resurrection, are the ultimate proof that God keeps His word. Centuries may pass, kingdoms may rise and fall, and human beings may forget their promises, but God does not forget His.
It is at this point that God reminds his people of the unmatchable accuracy and immutability of the rhythm of day and night. He says, “If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken.”
Indeed, God’s faithfulness is totally unlike our fluctuating loyalties. Our emotions change, but God remains forever who he is. Our circumstances shift, but not God’s purposes. Some mornings we feel full of faith, while other mornings we struggle even to pray. But God’s faithfulness does not rise and fall with our emotional condition.
Not only so, God’s purposes are often much larger than we can see. God promises that the descendants of David will be multiplied “as the host of heaven and the sands of the sea.” The people might have looked at a shrinking remnant, but God saw a future multitude. He saw what He was preparing.
All too often, we measure God’s faithfulness by present or foreseeable reality. But God sees tomorrow, and He sees generations beyond tomorrow. A seed buried in the ground looks like a loss before it becomes a tree. A dark night looks like the absence of morning until the first light appears. God’s work may sometimes be hidden, but that does not mean it is absent.
When our circumstances seem to contradict God’s promises, let us hold on to the God who gave us the promises. Let us remind ourselves, not merely of what God has promised, but of who he is. He is the covenant-keeping God. He does not abandon His purposes when things become hard. When the answer is delayed, it does not mean he has forgotten us. He has given us the greatest assurance of all in Jesus Christ.
Let the first morning light remind us of this. For it is willed by the same One who faithfully brings around day and night, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, century after century. We may not understand what He is doing today. We may not see how His promise will be fulfilled. But we can trust His character and wait for His purposes to unfold.
Instead of thinking, “Everything looks hopeless,” let us hold on by faith to this message: God’s purposes are not cancelled by our circumstances. When His people saw only darkness, devastation, and desolation, God saw restoration, a multitude of joyful people, and prosperity once again.
So let us hold on—not because we can see the outcome, but because we know the One who holds the outcome. The covenant-keeping God is still faithful. His promises have not expired. His purposes have not failed. And in Christ, every promise of God has its “Yes.”. God bless.
As you reflect on this truth, consider these questions:
What circumstances in your life currently make it difficult for you to believe that God is faithful, and why do they have such power over your confidence in Him?
How does Jeremiah 33 change the way you should interpret difficult circumstances when they appear to contradict God’s promises?
What does God’s covenant faithfulness, ultimately revealed in Jesus Christ, give you to hold on to when God’s answer seems delayed or His purposes are difficult to understand?
How can you practically remind yourself of God’s faithfulness during the coming week?
Let us pray
Heavenly Father, thank You that when my circumstances make Your promises difficult to understand, you help me see Your faithfulness. Help me to trust Your character when I cannot see Your purposes. Teach me to believe Your promises and put Your truth into practice. Teach me to wait patiently, walk faithfully, and rest securely in Jesus Christ, knowing that all Your promises find their Yes in Him. In Lord Jesus’ name. Amen